Code Geass

Code Geass

コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ
2006 -2008 Sunrise MBS / TBS 50 episodes Completed
Action Mecha Sci-Fi Political Drama
Details & Synopsis
Lelouch vi Britannia is seventeenth in line to the throne of the Holy Britannian Empire, exiled to Japan, now called Area 11, a conquered territory with no rights and no name, following his mother's assassination and his sister's crippling. He attends school, plays chess for money, and waits.

Then a mysterious girl named C.C. gives him the Geass: the absolute power to command anyone to do anything, once, through direct eye contact. He puts on a mask. He calls himself Zero. He tells himself he is doing it to destroy Britannia.

He might even be right.

Produced by Sunrise and directed by Goro Taniguchi, who made s-CRY-ed five years earlier and clearly spent the intervening time thinking about political violence and what it costs, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion aired on MBS from 2006 to 2008. Fifty episodes across two seasons built around a chess match played in real time between a revolutionary who cannot stop lying and a childhood friend who joined the empire to reform it. The show understands that both positions are correct and neither of them will survive being correct.

The plot moves. This is the understatement of the decade. Code Geass was downloaded faster than most fansub groups could release it because no one watching it was willing to wait a week between episodes. The cliffhangers are not cheap, they are the load-bearing structure of a narrative that never stops accelerating. The Knightmare Frame battles are spectacular. The political maneuvering is genuinely intricate. The character work earns what it asks of you.

The ending of R2 is one of the most argued finales in anime history. It is also the correct ending. This is not up for debate.

Fifty episodes. Clear your schedule.
Alt Title コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ
Studio Sunrise
Network MBS / TBS
Aired 2006 - 2008
Episodes 50
Genre Action, Mecha, Sci-Fi, Political Drama
Status Completed
← All lore

Fansub & Scanlation History

2006-2008: MBS/TBS Broadcast, 720p MKV & Speedsub Rivalries

[gg] vs. [Eclipse]: The Mid-2000s Speedsub & Quality Rivalry (2006-2008)

MBS/TBS Late-Night Airings · The Great [gg] Speed vs. [Eclipse] Quality War

When Sunrise's Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion premiered on MBS/TBS in October 2006 (followed by R2 in April 2008), it coincided with the fansub scene's transition from 480p AVIs to 720p H.264/Matroska (.mkv) softsubbed files. The series became the battleground for a legendary rivalry between speedsub group [gg] and quality group [Eclipse]. [gg] gained massive popularity for delivering subbed episodes within hours of Japanese broadcast, complete with localized humor and bold Aegisub typesetting, while [Eclipse] provided immaculate translations and elaborate musical karaoke for FLOW's "Colors" and ORANGE RANGE's "O2".
[gg]

Softsub Standardization & H.264/720p High-Definition Containers

Matroska (.mkv) Container Standard · Uncompressed AAC Audio & Karaoke Styling
Code Geass served as one of the definitive series that cemented x264 video encoding and Matroska (.mkv) softsubs as the universal Western fansub standard. Instead of hardsubbed video, groups released softsubs that allowed viewers to toggle raw video tracks, stylized fonts, and secondary translator notes explaining Britannia's alternate-history geography, Geass constraints, and Knightmare Frame mechanical designations.
[Eclipse]

Archival BitTorrent Batch Swarms & Complete R2 Preserves

50-Episode Complete Series Batches · Lossless Audio & Text Note Preservation

Following the R2 finale in September 2008, fan encoders compiled complete 50-episode batch packs combining Japanese Blu-ray/DVD raws with refined softsubs, preserving Kotaro Nakagawa's orchestral score and the Japanese voice performances of Jun Fukuyama and Takahiro Sakurai long before official streaming existed.

2006–2007: English DTV Fansubs

gg's Own Site Confirms Code Geass as an Active Project

Latest 17 / Total 25 on February 27, 2007 · AnimeSuki Later Reaches 22

gg's Code Geass credit no longer rests only on a contemporary torrent index. The group's own archived ggkthx.org project page, captured February 27, 2007, lists Code Geass under Active Projects with Latest: 17 and Total: 25. The same site exposes Releases, IRC Channel, Forums, Staff and Recruitment pages, making the project listing part of gg's own operating fansub infrastructure.

AnimeSuki independently preserves gg from episode 1 through at least episode 22, along with a 1–12 batch, revised releases, half-episode extras and DVD picture-book material.
Why it matters
The two sources do different jobs. gg's own site proves project ownership and status at a dated snapshot. AnimeSuki preserves a later public release trail beyond that snapshot. Together they make gg one of the better-documented Code Geass release lines.
[gg]

Shinsen-Subs and the Near-Complete Broadcast Run

23 TV Episodes · DTV Source · Later DVD Work

Shinsen-Subs was one of the major English-language groups working on Code Geass during the original Season 1 broadcast. Their release run reached 23 television episodes, with additional DVD-sourced work appearing alongside the broadcast releases. That makes Shinsen part of the actual week-to-week English fansub history of the series, not simply a later archival encoder: viewers were following Japanese broadcasts through translated releases while the show was still airing.
[Shinsen]

Your-Mom and the Complete 25-Episode DTV Release

25 / 25 Episodes · English Fansub · Digital TV Source

Your-Mom completed all 25 episodes of Code Geass Season 1 from digital television sources, making their release one of the full English fansub routes through the original broadcast. The group was already active in the same mid-2000s IRC and BitTorrent scene as Shinsen-Subs, and Code Geass landed squarely in that transition period when H.264, Matroska containers and fast digital-broadcast distribution were replacing the older AVI-heavy workflow.
[Your-Mom]

2006-2010: Kadokawa Spin-Off Manga & Early Scanlations

Parallel Spin-Off Manga Serialization & Flatbed Scanlations

Nightmare of Nunnally & Suzaku Spin-Offs · Desktop Flatbed Raws

Code Geass expanded across multiple parallel manga spin-offs published in Kadokawa Shoten magazines (Monthly Asuka and Comp Ace), including a Knightmare-less retelling by Majiko!, Nightmare of Nunnally, and Suzaku of the Counterattack. Early scanlation teams digitized imported magazine raws using desktop flatbed scanners, cleaning newsprint bleed-through and hand-typesetting translated dialogue.

Real Scanlation Activity, No Single Named Group

codegeass.5d6d.com · LiveJournal Coordination

Confirmed real scanlation activity around the spin-off manga, but decentralized rather than run by one clearly named group. A LiveJournal community actively circulated raws, coordinated translation requests, and shared volume-level torrents of Nightmare of Nunnally, Suzaku of the Counterattack, and Lelouch of the Rebellion, with codegeass.5d6d.com serving as a real, named hosting hub referenced directly in period posts. [UNCONFIRMED]: no single formally-named English scanlation group could be pinned down here, unlike other titles on this site.

Bandai Entertainment Manga Publishing & Scanlation Code Drop

2008 Official English Manga Localizations · Scene Honor Code Transition

In 2008, Bandai Entertainment licensed the official English publishing rights for the Code Geass manga spin-offs, confirmed as running alongside their existing anime license until the company's 2012 closure. Upon the announcement, scanlation groups honoring the scene code of ethics pulled active chapter downloads to direct fans toward the official releases.

2007-2020s: Bandai Licensing, Adult Swim Blockbuster & Funimation Rescue

Bandai Entertainment Licensing & Cartoon Network Adult Swim Premiere (April 27, 2008)

Dub by ZRO Limit Productions · Uncut English Cable Broadcast

Bandai Entertainment licensed the Code Geass anime, bringing Season 1 to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on April 27, 2008 (R2 followed that November). The English dub, produced by ZRO Limit Productions with original director Goro Taniguchi involved in casting, starred Johnny Yong Bosch as Lelouch and Yuri Lowenthal as Suzaku, both confirmed accurate here. The broadcast aired virtually uncut in a late-night timeslot, turning the series into a mainstream cable success.

Bandai Entertainment's 2012 Shutdown & The Out-Of-Print Vacuum

January 2012 Bandai Collapse · Secondary DVD/Blu-Ray Market Shortage
Bandai Entertainment ceased North American home video distribution as 2012 began, freezing production and leaving Code Geass out of print. Secondary market prices for the limited edition DVD box sets rose sharply, temporarily pushing fans back toward archival BitTorrent swarms.

Funimation's 2013 License Rescue & the October 2016 Blu-ray

2013 License Acquisition · Confirmed: Blu-ray/DVD Released October 4, 2016

Funimation rescued the licensing rights to Code Geass in 2013, releasing both seasons on Blu-ray and DVD on October 4, 2016, timed to the show's 10th anniversary, confirmed accurate here. The release used a new Japanese 5.1 surround mix with music and sound effects re-recorded under the supervision of original director Goro Taniguchi, and included both the Japanese track and the original English dub.